Only a Dream
by Anonymoose13
Summary: Oneshot based on a dream. AU. Naruto's graduating high school, and he's going to receive a special guest! Who could it be?


**Okay, so this is just a one-shot I whipped up from a dream I had this morning. I'll explain it a little more at the end if anyone is interested before I beg for reviews! Also, this is AU. And a dream, so it's a little confusing.**

I sat there waiting for some unknown reason. All I knew was that I was excited, and nervous. I waited, and waited, staring out the window for something to happen. I knew I'd know it when it happened!

Then a huge pickup truck rolled up my driveway. Beaming, I grabbed my jacket and shot outside, hastily locking the door behind me. I knew my parents would kill me if they got home and found the door unlocked. A man with wild blond hair and bright blue eyes grinned broadly at me as I threw open the door to the truck.

"Minato!" I laughed at I jumped into the truck and gave him a hug.

"Little Bailey!" his rich voice warmed me almost as much as his smile and strong arms as he wrapped me in a return embrace. He pulled the truck into reverse and drove out of my neighborhood.

"So, where're we going Minato?" I knew we had to be at the high school by six to watch Naruto graduate. He was two years younger than me, and I was ecstatic that my little brother would be getting his diploma. He was a hard worker, but very easily distracted. Having his father here for his graduation would be my surprise to him. But we still had several hours until then, so I was curious about how we would kill the time.

"I thought we could walk down the beach, maybe get something to eat."

I couldn't stop smiling. Minato might not be my dad, but he really was great to me. He treated me like his own daughter even if he didn't have to. Naruto was my step-brother. His mom had married my dad when I was little, then died in childbirth. My dad had married his mom while she was pregnant with Minato's baby. It was fairly devastating for my dad but he managed to carry on taking care of his two babies. "Okay! Sounds great!"

So that's what we did. We walked down the pier, eating and laughing as I told Minato about the silly, stupid, and sometimes dangerous stunts he had pulled since the last time Minato had seen him. As the sun was setting, we got back in the truck to head for the graduation ceremony. Maybe I should have been dressed a little fancier instead of in jeans and a shirt, but oh well. Naruto would be happy just to see us.

We walked into the massive hallway of Naruto's school and journeyed past the marble staircase looking for the auditorium. Naruto got the fancy school because he had gotten kicked out of the public school we had gone to together for fighting.

_I knew I should have dressed up more_, I thought as I walked a little ways behind Minato. That man definitely had a way with kids. Or maybe I was just excited that he would be there for his son's graduation. He and Naruto hardly ever saw each other.

I glanced up from my ponderings and saw a friend I hadn't seen in years. She had moved away when we were in tenth grade. "Aria!" I ran at the crazy girl I had chemistry with and hugged her. I had missed her so much! She was always the life of the party, you couldn't help but be entertained by her. Her bangs were flat ironed against her forehead while the rest of her mane was allowed to reign free in tight curls.

"Bailey! It's so good to see you!"

"What are you doing here?" I squealed.

Minato, who had not noticed that I had fallen behind, turned at my squeal and smiled softly at our loud, high pitched reunion.

A short while later we parted and I caught up with Minato, wrapping my arm around his and grinning up a storm. He chuckled at me and shook his head. I couldn't help but giggle back as we went into the auditorium and found my dad, who had saved us two seats. You might think that it was weird how cool my dad was with his son's dad hanging around with us, but he wasn't threatened. He knew Naruto and I both loved him, and were grateful for all the support he gave us, but Minato's presence was a treat that we only received occasionally. He didn't begrudge us that, and for that I loved him all the more.

The ceremony was nice, and short since it was a private school. The stage was lit, but the audience was not, so Naruto still didn't know that Minato was there. After it was over my dad leaned over to us and whispered conspiratorially, "You two go grab a table in the reception area, I'll go get Naruto and find you guys."

We grinned at him, then snuck off like we were secret agents.

Minato and I sat chatting about nonsense as we waited for Dad to show up with the little man of the hour. I held his wrapped graduation gift tightly. Soon the night would be over and Minato would have to leave. He seemed to notice that I wasn't as excited as I had been.

"Hey," he smiled softly, "What's the matter?"

I sighed. Obviously I knew this would come eventually, but it still made my chest ache. This man should be a consistent part of our family, but we only ever saw him once in a blue moon, and it hurt. "Nothing Minato. There's nothing wrong." I felt my throat close up, but I forced myself to smile brightly. I don't think I convinced him, but fortunately my aunt showed up and broke the tension.

"Hey guys!" She smiled then grunted as her huge yellow lab jumped up on the bench she was sitting on and squished her against the wall.

"Hi aunt Ren!" She had great timing. "Uh, is Joe allowed in the cafeteria?" I asked, referring to the dog.

"Of course not!" Ren grinned as a dog butt was shoved in her face. "But he's here anyway! He wanted to congratulate Naruto too!" Just as she finished her sentence a second massive yellow lab leaped onto the bench and pushed Ren back into the wall.

Minato and I just fell into each other, laughing at the scene Ren, Joe, and Babe made.

"Come on, Naruto!" I heard Dad whine as he pulled a blind folded Naruto to our table. He smirked at me then pulled off the blindfold after they had reached our table. "Ta-da!" He exclaimed proudly.

Naruto blinked at the suddenly bright room. Then his blue eyes fell on the matching pair next to me and his mouth widened into a grin while his eyes became suspiciously misty.

"Minato!" He cried.

Minato stood up and hugged his son. "Congratulations on graduating, my boy!" He proudly pounded Naruto on the back.

I stood there, letting Naruto have the attention of his father. I pushed all thoughts of Minato leaving out of the back of my mind and just enjoyed the celebration. Yes, he'd have to leave before the night was over, but he was never too far away when we really needed him.

**Alright. For my explanation: **

** As I said earlier, this is from a dream I had earlier this morning. Last night I was at a graduation party for a friend. Also, the anniversary of my dad's death is coming up, and in a few months I will also be graduating from high school, so all of this was rattling around in my brain. In the meantime, I've been reading a lot of Naruto fanfics. Thus this dream was born. I saw a lot of parallels between my life and this story, and a lot of things I wish could be true, but will never happen, so I decided that I didn't want to forget about it, so I wrote it down in the form of this story. I saw myself sort of as Naruto, even though I'm a girl with an older brother. I imagine that Naruto would love to have his father alive, and I would love it if mine could come to my graduation. I'm sorry if this just makes it more confusing, or if people just don't care, but I figured I might as well explain my reasons for typing this weird thing with a relatively boring plot, and no fancy fighting as one might expect from the Naruto-verse.**

** Disclaimer: My dreams never make much sense, so I changed and added some things to try to make this story flow better and make sense not only to the reader, but also to myself. Dreams are weird. Also, the names that are not from Naruto have been changed, including my own, to protect their identities. I also do not own Naruto.**

_**IF YOU ARE STILL WITH ME AFTER ALL OF THAT, PLEASE DROP A REVIEW! A KIND ONE, IF YOU COULD. I'M FEELING RATHER FRAGILE RIGHT NOW. THANKS! AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY, NIGHT, MORNING… WHATEVER **_


End file.
